ELKVILLE, IL - Members of the Terre Haute Rex, the 2018 Prospect League Champions were awarded their championship rings in a ceremony on Wednesday at the Drury Inn in Terre Haute, Indiana.

In the ceremony broadcasted live on the team's Facebook page, Rex General Manager and co-owner told the crowd in attendance, "We've won two championships since 2014. It's really meaningful to the whole community really and our fans, sponsors, and of course the players."

The Prospect League Commissioner, Dennis Bastien, who is no stranger to championship seasons with over 30 years of baseball experience and a past owner of multiple minor league franchises, remarked. "You have one of the finishest organizations in all of baseball," adding "You have a first-class organization here and it is the crown jewel of the Prospect League."

Terre Haute's highly respected field manager Tyler Wampler, who is ready to begin his fourth season at the helm of the Rex, said that the team had their own internal motivation to win the 2018 championship title. "We were tired of hearing about the 2015 championship," he said. "As proud as we were about that, we wanted to create our own story and journey to win the championship."

Another motivating factor that may have went unnoticed by some, is that the Terre Haute Rex defeated the Kokomo Jackrabbits in two straight championship series matches, including a dramatic 4-3, 10th inning win on the road at the Kokomo Municipal Stadium. Kokomo had already announced that they were leaving the Prospect League after the 2018 campaign to join the Northwoods League. As one Prospect League fan was overheard saying during the celebration on the field after the win, "We didn't want to see our Championship Trophy leaving the league."

The Rex front office and coaching staff have been burning the midnight oil in preparations to prepare for the 2019 season and they don't have to look hard to find a reason be motivated this year, because their second championship title that they capped off Wednesday with the Championship Rings ceremony, puts them one championship season away from tying the Quincy Gems and West Virginia Miners for the most titles in Prospect League history with three and that's not going unnoticed by anyone, especially the Rex.

The tradition of the championship rings, the big bling in sports, if you will, actually started in baseball. The first ever team-issued championship ring in American Sports was made for the New York Giants to celebrate their 1922 World Series win against the New York Yankees.